Written Answers Monday 31 January 2005

Scottish Executive

Angling

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it interprets section 25 of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975 and the Scotland Act 1998 (Border Rivers) Order 1999 in respect of their application to the upper Border Esk.

Lewis Macdonald: Section 25 of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975 imposes a duty on the Environment Agency to, by a system of licences, regulate fishing for salmon and trout and, except where excused by a Minister of the Crown, apply the same system to regulate fishing for all freshwater fish or eels. Section 25 applies to England and Wales and to so much of the Esk as is situated in Scotland.

  Article 4 of the Scotland Act 1998 (Border Rivers) Order 1999 provides the relevant framework for the Esk to be regulated by the Environment Agency, with any proposals having to be agreed by both Westminster and Scottish ministers.

Angling

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has been consulted on the Environment Agency’s proposals to impose rod licenses on the Scottish section of the Border Esk.

Lewis Macdonald: The duty to regulate fishing on the Border Esk was placed upon the Environment Agency by Section 25 of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975. The Environment Agency has notified the Scottish Executive of how it intends to carry out this obligation.

Angling

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has agreed to the Environment Agency’s proposals to impose rod licenses on the Scottish section of the Border Esk.

Lewis Macdonald: The Environment Agency has a duty under the provisions of Section 25 of the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975 to regulate fisheries for salmon and trout by a system of licensing, and this duty extends to so much of the Border Esk as lies within Scotland.

Autism

Elaine Smith (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to meet the needs of (a) children and (b) adults with autistic spectrum disorders who have accompanying mental health problems.

Mr Andy Kerr: The National Programme for Improving Mental Health and Well-Being has four key aims of: raising awareness of positive mental health and promoting mental health and well-being; eliminating the stigma and discrimination that can be associated with mental health; suicide prevention, and promoting and supporting recovery from mental health problems.

  In relation to children, we have recently published for consultation Children and Young People's Mental Health: A Framework for Promotion, Prevention and Care. This is intended to assist local health, education and social work services in planning and delivering integrated approaches to children and young people's mental health, including for those children and young people with autistic spectrum disorder.

  In addition, a national conference on medical interventions for people with autistic spectrum disorders is being planned for later this year. The conference will consider a range of health issues, including mental health problems.

Bridges

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what factors it will consider when reviewing the future of tolls on the Forth and Tay road bridges.

Nicol Stephen: The Executive made a commitment in our transport white paper, Scotland’s Transport Future , to carry out a two-phase review of the tolled bridges in Scotland, including the Forth and Tay road bridges. Phase one of the review is now complete and the resulting report is available on the Executive’s website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/enterprise/tobr-00.asp . The phase one report includes the terms of reference for phase two. Phase two will specifically consider the impact of future tolls on both the Tay and Forth road bridges looking specifically at congestion, pollution and the environment. A major issue will be how to reduce the significant number of single occupancy vehicles using both bridges.

Bridges

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what level of traffic has crossed the (a) Forth and (b) Tay road bridges in each year since they opened and what projections it has made in respect of the growth of traffic levels crossing the bridges in future.

Nicol Stephen: Information on traffic flows and traffic growth on the bridges is shown at section 4 of the Tolled Bridges Review: Phase One Report , published by the Scottish Executive, a copy of which is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 34847). A more detailed breakdown of figures is available from Forth Estuary Transport Authority and Tay Road Bridge Joint Board respectively, as they own and operate these bridges.

Bridges

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what major additional works are planned for the (a) Forth and (b) Tay road bridges outwith the normal maintenance schedule over the next five years and what the estimated costs are of such works.

Nicol Stephen: Plans for works and costs on the Forth and Tay road bridges are matters for the Forth Estuary Transport Authority and the Tay Road Bridge Joint Board respectively, as they own and operate these bridges.

Cancer

Elaine Smith (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide statistics in respect of diagnoses of secondary cancers amongst Scottish breast cancer patients in each of the last five years.

Mr Andy Kerr: The following table shows numbers of breast cancer cases diagnosed in the years 1997 to 2001, and the numbers and percentages which involved secondary tumours at the time of diagnosis.

  

Year
Total Number of Cases
Number of Cases with Secondary Tumours
Percentage with Secondary Tumours


1997
3,459
1,312
37.9


1998
3,620
1,338
37.0


1999
3,681
1,375
37.4


2000
3,691
1,403
38.0


2001
3,563
1,334
37.4



  Source: Scottish Cancer Registry, ISD.

  Date extracted: January 2005.

Child Care

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many child care and early education places there are per 100 children in each local authority area.

Euan Robson: The information requested is given in table 1.17 of Scottish Executive Statistics Publication Notice ISSN 1479-7569 Pre-school and Childcare Statistics 2004 published on July 21 2004 at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00346.pdf .

Child Care

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether additional research is needed to assess the impact of early years initiatives on the affordability of child care across Scotland and whether cost remains a barrier to take-up.

Euan Robson: The Parents’ Demand for and Access to Childcare in Scotland research published in 2004 found that 65% of parents did not pay for their child care. Of those who did pay, 72% found it easy to pay for their child care, 26% found it difficult to meet the costs, and 2% found it very difficult. Cost of child care for those on low to moderate income is being addressed through enhancements to the child care element of tax credits, with the maximum cost of child care eligible for tax credits increasing to £175 for one child and £300 for two or more from April 2005 (currently £135 and £200 respectively), and the maximum proportion of costs funded by the child care element increasing from 70% to 80% from April 2006. We are not currently considering the commissioning of further research.

Children's Hearings System

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will introduce a policy of continuously monitoring morale among members of children’s panels to ensure that retention levels do not fall below current levels.

Euan Robson: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-12922, answered on 22 December 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Civic Participation

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how it assesses the success of the civic participation initiatives that it has supported since 1999, including the work of its Civic Participation Unit and of external organisations; what benchmarks it considers should be used in assessing the development of a more participatory democracy in Scotland, and how it envisages this work progressing over the next five years.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Scottish Executive is strongly committed to the principle of civic participation and we support a range of different approaches to developing this commitment. This includes providing support for a number of organisations who promote civic participation as well as specific initiatives such as promoting citizenship education in schools; supporting volunteering and the voluntary sector, and promoting community engagement through community planning partnerships.

  We have encouraged increased opportunities for civic participation and stakeholder engagement by building a consistent approach to public consultation into our policy making processes. The Executive’s Consultation Registration and Evaluation System (CRES) was set up in December 2003 by the civic participation research team in our office of the chief researcher to record details of all Scottish Executive (SE) consultation activity and the online SE consultation service enables registered users to receive weekly updates on new consultation activity across the Executive. Over 780 consultations have taken place since 1999, including the recent consultation on smoking in public places, which attracted over 53,000 responses.

  The evaluation of the successful achievement of policy outcomes is also at the heart of our approach to delivering professional policy, and this encourages the sharing of good practice and the development of policies better tailored to meet the needs of the people of Scotland.

  We will continue to consider every specific proposal for developing civic participation in public policy development on its own merits, in accordance with our principles, policy priorities, and the need to ensure value for money.

Crime

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to combat retail crime.

Hugh Henry: The Scottish Business Crime Centre (SBCC) is a partnership involving the Executive as principal sponsors, Association of Chief Police Officers of Scotland and leading retail, business and commerce organisations. The SBCC has for a number of years provided advice and guidance on crime reduction and prevention to all types and scale of business in all parts of the community.

  The Scottish Executive has provided £1 million over three years for the establishment of Safe City Centre initiatives in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling, Inverness and Perth. We have agreed to extend the Initiative to other towns in Scotland and a decision on the towns which will be invited to participate will be made soon.

  Retail businesses have also benefited from public space CCTV systems funded by the Scottish Executive. In Partnership for a Better Scotland, the Scottish Executive committed to expand CCTV in shopping and other areas, supporting businesses and others to reduce crime. £1 million has been allocated in 2005-06 for this and decisions will be made soon on how this commitment will be delivered.

Culture

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take in relation to the Edinburgh International Festival in response to the announcement of a new international festival to commence in Manchester in 2007.

Patricia Ferguson: The Executive, in partnership with the Scottish Arts Council, Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian, EventScotland, the City of Edinburgh Council and the Association of Edinburgh’s Festivals, had already agreed to commission a study to consider the future development and growth of the Edinburgh Festivals. This is intended to lead to the identification of a strategy to maintain Edinburgh’s competitive advantage as the leading Festivals City by the year 2020.

Culture

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken, and intends to take, to implement the obligations on it arising from the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in relation to (a) Gaelic and (b) Scots.

Peter Peacock: The UK government has signed up for Part II (general principles) of the charter with regard to Scots and Gaelic and Part III which seeks to translate the general principles into specific undertakings, for Gaelic. The Scottish Executive is committed to policies which will assist the UK government to meet the charter obligations for which it has responsibility in relation to Gaelic and Scots. The Scottish Executive considers Gaelic and Scots to be important aspects of Scotland’s distinctive linguistic and cultural heritage and seeks to give expression to the general principles in its policies. In relation to Gaelic the Scottish Executive is also taking action in areas such as education, media, public services and cultural activities. These actions include the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Bill and a National Languages Strategy. The UK government will provide a detailed report to the Council of Europe on Charter compliance in 2005.

Culture

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its response is to the study carried out in line with the National Cultural Strategy and funded by the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland into the feasibility of an institute for the languages of Scotland.

Patricia Ferguson: The proposal for an Institute for the Languages of Scotland was made by a group of Scottish language interest groups and universities on the basis of an opinion survey. The proposal is uncosted and assessing its feasibility and value for money would require substantial further work. The Executive will consider how best to proceed in the context of its commitment to develop a National Language Strategy.

Ferry Services

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to encourage a commuter ferry service from Kirkcaldy to Leith.

Nicol Stephen: Forth Estuary Transport Authority, City of Edinburgh Council, Fife Council and Forth Ports Authority are considering the findings of a report on the options for a cross-Forth passenger service. No formal approach has been made to the Executive and it is too early to comment on whether it might be able to give any financial support to such a scheme.

First Minister

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the First Minister’s staff costs have been in respect of (a) accommodation, (b) travel, (c) transport, (d) stationery and (e) hospitality in each year since 1999.

Mr Tom McCabe: It is not possible to separate in the Scottish Executive’s accounting system all of the First Minister’s costs from the First Minister’s staff costs but the First Minister’s Office costs as a whole are detailed in the following table –

  

 
1999-2000
(£)
2000-01
(£)
2001-02
(£)
2002-03
(£)
2003-04
(£)


Accommodation1
0
0
0
0
0


Travel 
36,971
45,371
36,684
45,836
44,305


Transport2
220
235
0
0
360


Stationery
13,905
11,212
6,887
9,331
9,123


Hospitality3
2,362
614
1,203
1,444
1,132


Total
53,458
57,432
44,774
56,611
54,920



  Notes:

  1. Accommodation costs are managed centrally and not allocated against ministers’ offices.

  2. Excludes cost of Government Car Service for First Minister as costs are not broken down by individual minister.

  3. Includes teas, coffees, working lunches etc but excludes functions hosted by the First Minister.

Football

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-11898 by Patricia Ferguson on 18 November 2004, whether it will provide a breakdown of the sources of the £12.2 million being made available towards the implementation of the Action Plan for Youth Football.

Patricia Ferguson: The £12.2 million to be made available by the Executive and  sportscotland towards the implementation of the Action Plan for Youth Football will include £1.2 million of Exchequer funding, £1 million from the Lottery Sports Fund and £6 million from funding made available for community sport from unspent balances of the former New Opportunities Fund. The balance of £4 million will be identified from future lottery income.

Football

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-11898 by Patricia Ferguson on 18 November 2004, what the detailed breakdown is of the further £8.9 million to be contributed towards the Action Plan for Youth Football.

Patricia Ferguson: Based on current levels of investment, the contribution of £8.9 million towards the implementation of the Action Plan for Youth Football, comprises £4.5 million from the SFA and £4.4 million from local authorities to support the local authority community programmes over the ten year period of the plan.

Gambling

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the statement by the First Minister’s official spokeswoman on 20 October 2004, what reservations the First Minister has in respect of measures in the UK Gambling Bill that relate to devolved matters; what its position is in respect of whether powers to determine whether casinos should open in places outwith the current permitted areas should be devolved and, if so, how such powers should be exercised and by whom; what its position is in respect of the implications for devolved matters of any introduction of slot machines offering prizes of up to £2.5 million, and what powers it has to prevent their introduction.

Tavish Scott: Scottish ministers are content that the UK Gambling Bill will provide them with a wider range of controls under the new system than at present.

  The bill provides for three types of casinos – small, large and regional. The UK Government has now announced that, initially, the number of new casinos will be limited to eight of each type throughout Great Britain. However, the decision on the location of any new casinos in Scotland will only be taken in consultation with Scottish ministers and this will be reflected on the face of the bill.

  All new casinos will need to be licensed by a new regulatory body, the Gambling Commission, who will be responsible for regulating gambling and for operating and personal licences. Social responsibility will be an explicit condition of an operating licence, with breaches triggering penalties or even loss of licence.

  The bill also provides local authority Licensing Boards with power to decide whether to license any category of casino in their areas.

  Casinos will be allowed to install more gaming machines than at present, but their numbers will be capped. Only regional casinos will be allowed to install slot machines offering the potential to win unlimited prizes. This is reserved.

Health

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting times are at each specialist obesity clinic.

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients are waiting to be seen at each specialist obesity clinic.

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many, and what percentage of, patients are required to wait for six months or longer at each specialist obesity clinic.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information requested is not available centrally. Information on NHS waiting times is collected centrally only for first out-patient appointment at consultant-led clinics, following referral by a general medical or dental practitioner, at specialty level only; and for in-patient and day case treatment.

  One of the Executive’s key priorities is to improve Scotland’s health by promoting healthier lifestyles. There is a programme of action underway which will contribute to tackling obesity, including implementation of the Scottish Diet Action Plan and Physical Activity Strategy.

Health

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been diagnosed with stress by their GP in each of the last five years, broken down by cause of stress.

Rhona Brankin: Data on this subject is not available centrally.

Health

Mr Bruce McFee (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to advise consumers of the potential risks associated with taking Zocor or Lipitor while drinking cranberry or grapefruit juice.

Mr Andy Kerr: Information for patients on how to use medicines safely and effectively is provided in the Patient Information Leaflet, which accompanies the medicine. These leaflets are authorised by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency at the time of licensing and updated throughout the life of the product as new information on risks and benefits emerges.

  The Patient Information Leaflet for Zocor (simvastatin) advises against taking grapefruit juice during treatment as it could increase the risk of muscle damage. This advice is repeated in the Summary of Product Characteristics, which provides doctors and pharmacists with information on how the medicine should be used.

  Simvastatin 10mg is now available for sale from pharmacies without a prescription. Practice guidance developed by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society for Great Britain asks pharmacists to warn patients against taking grapefruit juice during treatment with simvastatin.

  The Patient Information leaflet for Lipitor (atorvastatin) advises against drinking more than one or two small glasses of grapefruit juice each day during treatment. This warning is repeated in the Summary of Product Characteristics.

  The product information for Zocor and Lipitor does not ask patients to avoid taking cranberry juice, or other cranberry products, during treatment.

Hepatitis

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients infected with hepatitis C have been treated with antiviral agents to date.

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients infected with hepatitis C are on waiting lists to be treated with antiviral agents and what the average waiting time is for such treatment is, broken down by NHS board.

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many centres are treating patients infected with hepatitis C using antiviral agents.

Mr Andy Kerr: This information is not held centrally. The Scottish Executive has funded the establishment of a database, which will hold information on all hepatitis C virus infected persons in clinical care throughout Scotland. It is anticipated that this database will be functioning by late 2005. The database will hold information on numbers of persons in clinical care, eligible for antiviral therapy and being administered antiviral therapy, and on waiting times for antiviral therapy.

Hepatitis

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps will be taken to ensure that prisoners who are infected with hepatitis C and who are receiving treatment continue their treatment when they are moved between prisons or are released.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Prisoners known to have hepatitis C are referred to specialist NHS services for assessment and treatment. Prison health professionals ensure that hepatitis C status, when confirmed in prison and for those established on treatment, is known to their next health care provider, whether in prison or the community following release.

Hepatitis

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will implement lifestyle modification programmes aimed at alcohol reduction and dietary education for people diagnosed with hepatitis C to improve their morbidity and long-term treatment prospects.

Mr Andy Kerr: Under good clinical practice individual clinicians will consider and discuss with their patients the implications of aspects of lifestyle for their well-being and long-term treatment prospects. This should include discussion of both diet and alcohol intake.

  Although there are no plans at present to implement programmes aimed at alcohol reduction or dietary education specifically for people diagnosed with hepatitis C, the Plan for Action on Alcohol Problems commits the Executive to a programme of culture change. This involves a range of activities including communications, the role of which is to prompt the general public to think about their drinking and to encourage a sense of personal responsibility for the negative cost of alcohol problems.

  The wider Healthy Living campaign aims to encourage and motivate everyone to take on the challenge of making daily health improving decisions about their diet and physical activity.

Hepatitis

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will commission a review to determine the optimal configuration of services, including treatment for drug misuse, that is required to provide an effective care pathway for hepatitis C positive individuals from different risk groups and, if so, whether it will produce a comparison with the current service configuration and outline how current services can be developed to provide such an optimal service configuration.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Scottish Executive has commissioned hepatitis C clinicians, working in association with Health Protection Scotland, to establish a hepatitis C Clinical Database. Data managers have started to enter retrospective and prospective data, held in different clinical settings throughout Scotland, onto a dedicated database. It is anticipated that data will be ready for analysis in late 2005. These data, when examined together with laboratory diagnoses data held at Health Protection Scotland, will allow us to understand better the effectiveness of care pathways relating to hepatitis C positive individuals from different risk groups and will help us to determine the optimal configuration of services for such persons.

  A Scottish Intercollegiate Guideline Network for Hepatitis C has been established to determine evidence-based optimal approaches to hepatitis C care and proposals for a Managed Clinical Network for Hepatitis are also being developed.

  On the treatment of drug misuse, the Executive published a summary of our Review of Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Services on 27 October 2004 in the form of an action plan which contains several recommendations aimed at Improving Service Quality and Consistency. It is for local Drug Action Teams and constituent partners to plan and deliver the full range of drug treatment and care services in line with identified need and local priorities.

Hepatitis

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will address the difficulties of hepatitis C individuals who have to travel long distances to attain treatment when they are unwell.

Mr Andy Kerr: Decisions on where hepatitis C treatment is provided are clinically based and are agreed between doctor and patient. As far as possible and dependent on treatment requirements, arrangements are made to treat patients as close to home as possible.

  When it is necessary for patients to travel to receive treatment, assistance with reasonable costs may be available through patient travel schemes or through reimbursement from the NHS board. Further information is available in the leaflet Help with health cost available on the website www.show.scot.nhs.uk.

Hepatitis

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in line with recommendations from the UK Consensus Conference on Hepatitis C, it plans to open more treatment centres or develop nurse-led outreach clinics to address the ongoing difficulty of hepatitis C positive individuals having to travel long distances to attain treatment when they are unwell and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Mr Andy Kerr: Decisions about health care service provision and the staff needed to deliver them are the responsibility of NHS boards, within national priorities and guidelines and the resources provided by the Scottish Executive.

  When it is necessary for patients to travel to receive treatment, assistance with reasonable costs may be available through patient travel schemes or through reimbursement from the NHS board. Further information is available in the leaflet Help with health cost available on the website www.show.scot.nhs.uk.

Hepatitis

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to use patient groups to support the clinical process and hepatitis C positive individuals receiving, or waiting for, treatment and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Executive’s aim is to create a patient-focussed NHS in which the Executive works "with the NHS to ensure that a patient focus is embedded in the culture". Informing, engaging and consulting with patients, carers and the public are key to the development of health policy and service development. The Executive will continue to work with the patient groups and voluntary organisations involved in hepatitis C.

Hepatitis

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has put in place audit processes to measure outcomes for hepatitis C testing and treatment services in order to determine if the current service configuration and resources are effective at identifying and managing hepatitis C individuals through their care pathway to successfully access anti-viral treatment.

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure equal access to services to support and treat hepatitis C individuals across NHS boards.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Scottish Viral Hepatitis Group is currently considering a Managed Clinical Network approach which would help to develop effective care pathways for all hepatitis C positive individuals. All Managed Clinical Networks are expected to participate in audit and are committed to ensuring equity of access to services.

  The Hepatitis C Clinical Database, funded by the Executive, will also help clinicians to measure the outcomes of testing and treatment from those identified as having hepatitis C and those who are eligible for treatment.

Hepatitis

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will ring-fence sufficient funding to address the hepatitis C epidemic, as it did at the outset of the HIV epidemic, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Executive already gives over £8 million per year to NHS boards in earmarked resources for work to prevent bloodborne viruses, including hepatitis C. NHS boards use these resources in a variety of ways taking account of local need, including awareness-raising initiatives and needle exchange schemes.

  In addition to the specific allocation for blood-borne viruses, NHS boards are given a unified budget to meet the health care needs of their resident population. It is a decision for NHS boards how best to utilise this funding to meet local and national priorities including the treatment and prevention of hepatitis C.

Hepatitis

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will secure funding to treat all individuals diagnosed with chronic hepatitis C as soon as possible after diagnosis with chronic viral infection.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Executive already gives over £8 million each year to NHS boards in earmarked resources for work to prevent bloodborne viruses, including hepatitis C. NHS boards use these resources in a variety of ways taking account of local need, including awareness-raising initiatives and needle exchange schemes.

  In addition to this specific allocation, NHS boards are given a unified budget to meet the health care needs of their resident population. It is for NHS boards to decide how best to utilise this funding to meet local and national priorities, including the treatment and prevention of hepatitis C.

  The suitability of treatment options is considered by clinicians, taking into account the disease status of each individual patient and any contraindication for therapy: for example pregnancy is currently a contraindication for combination therapy. The guidance available to NHSScotland on which patient groups have access to treatment for hepatitis C can be found at:

  http://www.nhshealthquality.org/nhsqis/qis_Publications3.jsp?pContentID=1187&p_applic=CCC&p_service=Content.show&.

Hepatitis

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many hepatitis C centres have been closed due to a lack of resources.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Executive is unaware of any closures due to a lack of resources or otherwise.

Hospital-Acquired Infection

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many hospital-acquired (a) urinary and (b) chest infections there have been and what the rate of infection has been in each NHS board since 1999.

Mr Andy Kerr: This information is not held centrally.

Housing

Mr Bruce McFee (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Communities Scotland has grant-funded Barrhead Housing Association for the land acquisition and subsequent development and building costs in respect of the new-build housing development at Station Road, Neilston.

Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

  Communities Scotland has made grant funding available to the association for its development at Station Road, Neilston.

Housing

Mr Bruce McFee (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Communities Scotland is satisfied that all suspensive conditions attached to the land acquisition grant awarded in respect of the new-build housing development at Station Road, Neilston, have been wholly purified.

Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

  We are aware that the association is currently engaged in the legal process in relation to Barnes Street and we are unable to comment further on this matter.

Housing

Mr Bruce McFee (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Communities Scotland is satisfied that all suspensive conditions attached to the development grant awarded in respect of the new-build housing development at Station Road, Neilston, have been wholly purified, ensuring valid security of tenure to all tenants.

Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

  We are aware that the association is currently engaged in legal action in relation to Station Road, Neilston and we are unable to comment further on this matter.

Immigration

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is represented on the cross-Whitehall Managed Migration Group of officials and whether it has been requested to make an input to the group’s top-to-bottom review of managed migration.

Mr Tom McCabe: Immigration is a reserved issue and any review of managed migration is an issue for the Home Office. However, as part of the further development of the Fresh Talent Initiative, the Scottish Executive and Home Office are in regular discussions about managed migration and the implications for Scotland. This includes Scottish Executive staff attending occasional informal meetings where Home Office officials update other Government Departments on its work in this area. These meetings are for the exchange of information only and have no decision making powers.

Justice

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what capacity there will be for sentences to contain an element of community reparation in 2005.

Cathy Jamieson: In 2005, courts throughout Scotland will continue to have access to a range of community based penalties which contain an element of community reparation. These include both Community Service Orders and Probation Orders - where the court has imposed an additional condition of unpaid work in the community. Supervised Attendance Orders, which are a penalty for fine default, can also include a requirement to carry out unpaid work within the community.

  In addition, from spring of this year both District and Sheriff Courts in the Dundee, Inverness and Greenock areas will have access to a new Community Reparation Order, provided for within the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004, as part of a two year Scottish Executive funded pilot scheme.

Justice

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to ensure that sentences containing an element of community reparation will be given in 2005.

Cathy Jamieson: The role of the Executive is to ensure that courts have access to a sufficient range of appropriately resourced sentencing options. Sentencing decisions are for the courts. There is a continuing increase in the use by courts of community based penalties, including Community Service Orders, which provide for reparation to be made to communities through a specified period of unpaid work. The 1% increase in the number of Community Service Orders in 2003-04 followed a 13% increase the previous year. Similarly there was a 10% increase in 2003-04 in the number of Supervised Attendance Orders, which contain an element of community reparation, imposed by courts in dealing with fine defaulters.

  A new development for 2005-06 is commencement of two year Executive funded pilots of Community Reparation Orders to deal with antisocial behaviour. Both District and Sheriff Courts within the pilot areas of Dundee, Inverness and Greenock will have access to this new sentence. As a statutory duty local authorities require to carry out consultation of appropriate groups within their areas on the nature of placements to be carried out by those subject to a Community Reparation Order.

Justice

Mr Stewart Maxwell (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many convictions there have been for selling tobacco products to minors in each of the last five years, broken down by police force area.

Cathy Jamieson: The table provides the available data for those police force areas and years where such convictions were recorded.

  Persons with a Charge Proved in Scottish Courts for Selling Tobacco Products to Minors1, by Police Force Area, 1998-2002

  

Police Force Area
1998
1999
2001


Grampian 
1
2
-


Strathclyde 
-
1
1


Total
1
3
1



  Note: 1. Where main offence.

Ministerial Correspondence

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish all correspondence between the office of the First Minister and Wark Clements.

Ms Margaret Curran: There are no records of any correspondence between the office of the First Minister and Wark Clements.

NHS Staff

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of the number of injuries caused by violence and aggression, as detailed in NHSScotland Workforce Statistics Table A7: Occupational Health and Safety – Number of occupational injuries by type of organisation and staff group, against the staff group, Nursing and Midwifery, broken down by NHS board area.

Mr Andy Kerr: Information on the number of occupational injuries for nursing and midwifery staff is available by type of organisation and is shown in the following table. Data was not published by health board area as at 31 March 2004 due to issues of completeness and quality. We intend to publish the data by health board area in autumn 2005 for the census period 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2005.

  NHSScotland Workforce Statistics, Occupational Health and Safety

  Number of Occupational Injuries by Type of Organisation for Nursing and Midwifery Staff, at 31 March 2004

  Number of Occupational Injuries Per 1,000,000 Available Hours

  

Type of Organisation
Total Occupational Injuries
Needlesticks/Sharps
Violence and Aggression (inc. verbal abuse)
Musculoskeleta I disorders MSDS – back and lower limbs
Musculoskeleta I disorders MSDS – neck and upper limbs
Slips and trips
Fall from height


Scotland
148.97
11.73
112.02
12.75
5.35
6.83
0.29


Acute Trusts1
85.1
13.43
55.35
5.62
3.07
7.20
0.40


Unified Trusts2
334.0
15.36
290.74
16.24
2.29
9.24
0.12


Primary Care Trusts3
156.5
7.11
111.50
22.08
10.47
5.13
0.21


Health Boards4
37.1
27.19
0.00
9.89
0.00
0.00
0.00



  Source: ISD Scotland.

  Notes:

  1. Acute Trusts, Islands Boards and Scottish Ambulance Service.

  2. Unified Boards prior to 31 march 2004 (NHS Borders, NHS Dumfries and Galloway, NHS Argyll and Clyde and NHS Fife.

  3. Primary Trusts, State Hospital and Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service.

  4. Health Board Headquarters and Special Health Boards not providing health care.

NHS Waiting Times

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether patients who refuse treatment with a private contractor of NHS services will be moved to the end of the relevant waiting list.

Mr Andy Kerr: An offer of treatment arranged by the NHS under contract with an independent health care sector is an offer of treatment from the NHS.

  As we announced in Fair to All, Personal to Each, published on 15 December 2004, from the end of 2007 patients who refuse a reasonable offer of treatment will be moved to the end of the waiting list. By the end of 2007, that will mean a maximum wait of 18 weeks.

  There is no reason why an offer of treatment arranged by the NHS under contract with an independent healthcare provider should be regarded any differently from treatment provided by the NHS.

  Technical definitions of what constitutes a reasonable offer of treatment are being prepared and will be used from the end of 2007.

NHS Waiting Times

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-4807 by Malcolm Chisholm on 19 January 2004, what the difference in median wait and mean wait was for the quarter ended (a) 30 June 1997, (b) 30 June 1999, and (c) 30 September 2004, broken down by NHS board area.

Mr Andy Kerr: The differences between the median wait and mean wait for in-patient/day case treatment and new out-patient appointments for the quarters ending: 30 June 1997, 30 June 1999 and 30 September 2004, by NHS board of residence were as follows:

  Difference in Median and Mean Wait (days)

  

NHS Board (Residence)
Quarter end
In-patient/Day Case Waiting Time
First Out-patient Appointment
Waiting Time


Median Wait
Mean Wait
Difference
Median Wait
Mean Wait
Difference


Scotland
30-Jun-97
34
59.7
-25.7
40
53.7
-13.7


30-Jun-99
30
53.5
-23.5
46
64.0
-18.0


30-Sep-04p
43
81.3
-38.3
55
89.8
-34.8


Argyll and Clyde
30-Jun-97
36
61.1
-25.1
39
59.0
-20.0


30-Jun-99
29
50.9
-21.9
42
58.5
-16.5


30-Sep-04p
45
76.2
-31.2
55
81.3
-26.3


Ayrshire and Arran
30-Jun-97
33
57.1
-24.1
35
44.4
-9.4


30-Jun-99
34
55.4
-21.4
37
48.4
-11.4


30-Sep-04p
52
86.1
-34.1
51
80.5
-29.5


Borders
30-Jun-97
28
46.7
-18.7
33
43.3
-10.3


30-Jun-99
27
43.4
-16.4
35
47.1
-12.1


30-Sep-04p
40
74.1
-34.1
41
74.2
-33.2


Dumfries and Galloway
30-Jun-97
33
60.2
-27.2
35
41.0
-6.0


30-Jun-99
31
49.9
-18.9
45
53.2
-8.2


30-Sep-04p
52
79.1
-27.1
49
79.8
-30.8


Fife
30-Jun-97
37
69.1
-32.1
48
58.8
-10.8


30-Jun-99
39
73.6
-34.6
54
73.4
-19.4


30-Sep-04p
45
90.1
-45.1
62
92.7
-30.7



  Difference in Median and Mean Wait (days)

  

NHS Board (Residence)
Quarter end
In-patient/Day Case Waiting Time
First Out-patient Appointment
Waiting Time


Median Wait
Mean Wait
Difference
Median Wait
Mean Wait
Difference


Forth Valley
30-Jun-97
31
56.8
-25.8
42
52.0
-10.0


30-Jun-99
32
56.2
-24.2
54
68.9
-14.9


30-Sep-04p
50
90.2
-40.2
64
102.3
-38.3


Grampian
30-Jun-97
33
60.0
-27.0
35
50.4
-15.4


30-Jun-99
28
48.8
-20.8
49
67.1
-18.1


30-Sep-04p
38
77.6
-39.6
57
92.4
-35.4


Greater Glasgow
30-Jun-97
35
59.3
-24.3
46
59.2
-13.2


30-Jun-99
29
53.1
-24.1
48
65.7
-17.7


30-Sep-04p
34
75.0
-41.0
59
103.0
-44.0


Highland
30-Jun-97
30
52.0
-22.0
31
50.8
-19.8


30-Jun-99
28
49.7
-21.7
35
56.0
-21.0


30-Sep-04p
42
84.2
-42.2
43
79.5
-36.5


Lanarkshire
30-Jun-97
38
64.4
-26.4
44
57.4
-13.4


30-Jun-99
28
48.5
-20.5
50
70.4
-20.4


30-Sep-04p
54
90.7
-36.7
62
94.6
-32.6


Lothian
30-Jun-97
30
55.8
-25.8
38
53.7
-15.7


30-Jun-99
29
51.9
-22.9
46
69.3
-23.3


30-Sep-04p
42
84.4
-42.4
50
83.4
-33.4


Orkney
30-Jun-97
20
35.8
-15.8
22
31.3
-9.3


30-Jun-99
24
29.0
-5.0
29
33.8
-4.8


30-Sep-04p
25
45.1
-20.1
31
47.0
-16.0


Shetland
30-Jun-97
34
55.0
-21.0
32
37.7
-5.7


30-Jun-99
20
42.1
-22.1
30
34.4
-4.4


30-Sep-04p
34
62.9
-28.9
35
41.1
-6.1


Tayside
30-Jun-97
34
63.3
-29.3
37
47.0
-10.0


30-Jun-99
33
57.8
-24.8
44
58.9
-14.9


30-Sep-04p
47
77.2
-30.2
53
89.2
-36.2


Western Isles
30-Jun-97
30
50.0
-20.0
34
46.6
-12.6


30-Jun-99
26
41.3
-15.3
33
52.2
-19.2


30-Sep-04p
40
68.0
-28.0
39
55.7
-16.7



  Sources: ISD, SMR00 & SMR01.

  PProvisional.

  The distributions of both out-patients and in-patients/day cases and out-patients are very skewed making the median the more appropriate measure. The mean is highly sensitive to the small number of unusually high values in the long tail of the distribution. A significant number of those waiting for a long time will have been delayed due to failing to attend, cancelling an offer of an appointment or having medical/social constraints that prevent admission for treatment.

  Neither the mean nor the median are targets for NHSScotland and they are only summary measures for patients awaiting in-patient/daycase hospital care where reducing maximum waiting times is the Scottish Executive’s priority. They take no account of the annual 465,000 emergency admissions, where patients are admitted immediately and they take no account of the annual 26.5 million face-to-face contacts with the primary care team.

Population

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why Scottish population projections available from the Government Actuary’s Department stop at 2043 when the UK population forecast is being produced up to and including 2073.

Mr Tom McCabe: The choice of projection period reflects user demand and the increasing uncertainty of projections as the period is extended, particularly for smaller populations. A 40 year period has been used since 1970 for the projections for the constituent countries of the UK, including Scotland. In 1981, to meet the needs of actuaries, economists and other users, this was extended to 70 years for the UK and GB projections where the larger population allows greater accuracy.

Prison Service

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Prison Service has met the business targets it was set for 2002-03 and 2003-04 and whether it is on track to meet the targets set for 2004-05.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Information on the Scottish Prison Service’s (SPS) performance on targets set for 2002-03 and 2003-04 is covered by the SPS Publication Scheme and was published in the SPS Annual Report for 2003-04. This was laid before Parliament on 14 October 2004 and is available on the SPS website (www.sps.gov.uk). Performance so far in 2004-05 is similar to that in 2003-04.

Rural Development

Mr Andrew Arbuckle (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the results of its Environment and Rural Affairs Department’s consultation on the draft rural development regulation.

Ross Finnie: The results of the consultation were published on 10 December 2004 on the Scottish Executive website. Hard copies of the report, and the individual responses, are available to the public in the Scottish Executive library.

Scottish Executive

Alasdair Morgan (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many undisputed invoices it paid within 30 days of receipt, expressed also as a percentage of all undisputed invoices, for 2003-04.

Mr Tom McCabe: The figures are given in the following table:

  

Financial Year
Total Number of Invoices
Number Paid Late
%age Paid within 30 days of receipt or contract terms if different


* 2003/4 – SE Core
84,518
19,391
77



  Note: *Total includes SE Core, Consolidated Invoice Transactions and Government Procurement Card Transactions (where applicable).

  The core Scottish Executive’s payment performance in 2003-04 was unacceptably low (although it showed significant improvement over the previous year). The Executive has taken a range of steps over the past year to improve performance, and I am confident that our payment performance in 2004-05 will show further substantial improvement.

Scottish Executive

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive to what types of projects the Office of Government Commerce’s (OGC) Gateway Review process is applied and what other mechanisms exist for appraising, monitoring and evaluating innovative or experimental initiatives.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive has adopted the OGC Gateway Review process and applies it to a range of procurement, business change, construction, re-location, IT enabled, legislative and policy delivery projects. We are committed, in the light of the Holyrood Inquiry’s findings and recommendations, to expanding the application of Gateway Review and are currently working on proposals to achieve this.

  In accordance with the Scottish Public Finance Manual, Project Sponsors and Project Managers are responsible for appraising, monitoring and evaluating their major investment projects, and are required to report progress to the projects’ senior responsible owner or similar authority on a regular basis.

  All major projects are required to include a post project evaluation within their planning irrespective of the degree of innovation involved and in the case of projects subject to Gateway Review; the final review takes the form of a Benefits Evaluation.

Scottish Water

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much sewage waste was disposed of by Scottish Water in each calendar year since its inception.

Lewis Macdonald: This is an operational matter for Scottish Water. I have asked the Chief Executive to reply to you directly.

Social Justice

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to publish the Social Justice Indicators of Progress for 2004.

Malcolm Chisholm: Our new Closing the Opportunity Gap approach has refocused our social justice strategy, and set out new objectives and targets, and action to deliver those targets. The targets were announced in the Scottish Parliament on 9 December 2004 and are referred to in the answer to question S2W-12888 (answered on 9 December 2004), and more information can be found at www.scotland.gov.uk/closingtheopportunitygap .

  Data on the social justice milestones continue to be available at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/Social-Inclusion/17415/milestones#top.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/wa.search.

Social Work

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the incentives being offered by some local authorities to attract social workers is having any adverse impact on services in other local authority areas, given the current national shortfall in social workers, and what steps it is taking to avert any adverse consequences on authorities with the highest levels of deprivation.

Euan Robson: Pay is a matter for local authorities. The Scottish Executive has been working to increase the pool of social workers. This has included a Social Work Fast Track Graduate Scheme which will produce up to 520 additional new social workers by 2008, with the first 97 trainees graduating over the coming months. The numbers of Fast Track and qualified undergraduates in social work are rising each year and, over the next three years, we expect there will be an additional 650 new social workers joining the labour force each year. We have established an incentive scheme to encourage newly-qualified graduates into areas of significant shortage. There has also been an on-going recruitment media campaign since 2002 and promotion of the new social work degree. Figures show a 25% increase in qualifying social workers between 2002 and 2003 and a 25% increase in new social work students between 2003 and 2004. While recognising the need for a continuing commitment to the sector, significant progress has been made to address the need for social worker services across Scotland, including those areas with highest levels of deprivation.

Speed Cameras

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many speed cameras were installed on (a) trunk roads, (b) urban roads other than trunk roads and (c) other roads in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Cathy Jamieson: Information is available for speed camera sites that have joined the Safety Camera Programme since it was first piloted from 2000-02. The increase in camera sites over this period therefore are a combination of new sites established by safety camera partnerships and sites that were operated by the police prior to the programme but accepted into the scheme.

  Number of New and Existing Cameras Accepted into the Programme Year on Year*

  

Year
Programme Expansion
Trunk Roads
Non-trunk Roads


Fixed Sites
Mobile Sites
Fixed Sites
Mobile Sites


2000-02
Pilot project involving Strathclyde – area covered by Glasgow City Council only
0
0
39
0


2002-03
Strathclyde expands to cover 4 local authorities
Fife joins Programme April 2002
North East Partnership joins October 2002
22
23
20
74


2003-04
Strathclyde Partnership expands to cover 12 local authorities
Dumfries & Galloway joins July 2003
Lothian & Borders joins July 2003
Tayside joins July 2003
44
59
50
95


2004-05
Northern Partnership joins July 2004
Lothian & Borders expands to include West Lothian Council area July 2004
2
50
4
53



  Note: *As partnerships and the programme expands additional geographic areas will be included where camera sites were already operated by the police in conjunction with the roads authorities. In addition new sites will be established at sites where new casualty problems are emerging. Figures given are for all cameras sites accepted into the programme – new and pre-existing. These figures are based on information supplied by safety camera partnerships. Central Scotland is not currently part of the programme and therefore no figures are included for this area.

Speed Cameras

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many accidents, broken down by category, it estimates have been avoided by the installation of speed cameras in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Cathy Jamieson: Statistics on the effectiveness of safety cameras in reducing casualties are reported in the independent Three-year Evaluation of the UK Safety Camera Programme. These relate only to safety camera partnerships that have been operational within the Programme for a full year to March 2003. It shows that the UK Safety Camera Programme had achieved the following at camera sites:

  

Category
Reduction
(Absolute Numbers)
Reduction
(Percentage)


All killed and seriously injured casualties (KSIs)
870
39.9%


All Personal Injury Collisions (PICs)
4,030
32.6%


Pedestrian KSIs
131
35%


Pedestrian PICs
329
23%



  Note: Figures are for April 2000 – March 2003 and for 24 UK safety camera partnerships that had been operating for at least one year.

Speed Cameras

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what contribution to the reduction in greenhouse gases and other atmospheric pollution is made by the installation of speed cameras.

Cathy Jamieson: The primary aim of the Safety Camera Programme is to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on Scotland’s roads. No detailed assessment has been made of the impact of speed cameras on emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants.

Suicide

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what new practices or procedures it intends to implement to help reduce the number of people who commit suicide.

Rhona Brankin: "Choose Life" the national strategy and action plan to prevent suicide was launched by the Scottish Executive in December 2002. Good progress is being made in implementing the main objectives and milestones set out in the strategy. In relation to new practices and procedures, a number of areas are worth highlighting.

  A national suicide prevention training strategy is being developed, the main component of this is a training programme called ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) training. There are now 90 accredited trainers across Scotland, this will rise to 150 trainers by March 2005. These trainers then cascade the training in their local areas and relevant organisations and networks.

  Progress is being made in developing partnerships with key agencies to help target suicide prevention work at particular target and high-risk groups. Such groups include the Scottish Prison Service, Samaritans and Childline. Further to this work, all 32 local authority areas now have in place a local Choose Life co-ordinator and local action plan. Work on implementing these action plans has now begun.

Teachers

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many teachers it expects to be employed in 2014-15.

Peter Peacock: The Scottish Executive has a commitment to ensure that there are 53,000 teachers in publicly funded schools by 2007. No decision has been taken on numbers for future years but the Executive is always committed to and bound in law to endeavour to secure improvement in the quality of school education.

Teachers

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why eligibility for the Teacher Induction Scheme is restricted to those graduating from a Scottish higher education institution with a teaching qualification whose training has been publicly funded.

Peter Peacock: Eligibility is restricted because the number of eligible teachers is controlled by the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council to match teacher workforce requirements.

  It would be possible to extend eligibility to include all teacher education institutions elsewhere in the UK, but we would not be able to limit eligibility to individual institutions. We would therefore be opening ourselves to an indeterminate number of applications, for the most part without teaching vacancies being available.

  We regularly review eligibility for the induction scheme, but it is extremely unlikely it will ever be extended to guarantee places to individuals graduating from elsewhere in the UK.

Transport

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it has made available to Dumfries and Galloway Council for traffic management and transportation infrastructure projects in each of the last five years and what criteria applied to receipt of these funds.

Nicol Stephen: No funding has been given by the Scottish Executive to local authorities for specific traffic management projects. The only Executive funding awarded to Dumfries and Galloway Council for specific public transport projects has been from the Public Transport Fund, in line with the guidance issued to local authorities for the relevant bidding round. The following table sets out the total value of allocations awarded to the council from the fund, for those projects involving public transport infrastructure construction and enhancement.

  The table also gives the allocations received by the Council for Cycling, Walking and Safer Streets (CWSS) projects. Whilst it is for local authorities to determine what specific projects should be supported with these allocations, we understand that most of Dumfries and Galloway Council’s allocations have gone towards infrastructure construction and enhancement.

  

 
1999-2000
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04


Total Value of PTF Allocations
(£ million)
0.400
0.320
2.008
2.008
0.513


CWSS Allocations
0.000
0.140
0.079
0.121
0.211

Transport

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it expects to make available to Dumfries and Galloway Council for traffic management and transportation infrastructure projects in each of the next three financial years and what criteria will apply to receipt of these funds.

Nicol Stephen: Under existing financial commitments, Dumfries and Galloway Council has an allocation in 2005-06 of £412,000 from the Public Transport Fund for its southern sector access strategy. The council will also receive cycling, walking and safer streets allocations of £252,000, £256,000 and £262,000 in 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08 respectively, which may be used towards infrastructure projects.

Water Services

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the claim by Homes for Scotland that less than 50% of the land currently approved for new housing can be developed due to lack of investment by Scottish Water, what action the Executive will take to address this issue.

Lewis Macdonald: The issue of constraints on new development was addressed in the Executive’s recent consultation Investing in Water Services 2006-2014 (Bib. number 33325), and it will be addressed in the next investment programme commencing in April 2006. A Ministerial Statement outlining priorities for this programme will be made in the Parliament shortly.

Water Services

Mrs Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what it considers the share of the cost of water services to new housing developments should be between Scottish Water and housing developers.

Lewis Macdonald: As part of Paying for Water Services 2006-2010 , the Executive recently consulted on the principle of developers funding increased local capacity required by their developments. A Ministerial Statement including our decisions on this will be made in the Parliament shortly.

  Further detailed provision on meeting the costs of new connections to the water services infrastructure will be set out in regulations to be made under the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003. We will consult on the draft regulations later this year.